.NET Solution Explorer for Visual Studio Code
Bring the rich, powerful, and intuitive Visual Studio Solution Explorer experience directly into Visual Studio Code for .NET and C# developers.
🌟 Key Features
📁 1. Comprehensive Solution & Project Management (.sln & .slnx)
- Full
.sln & .slnx Support: Seamlessly parses and manages both classic Visual Studio .sln format and modern .NET 9+ XML-based .slnx format.
- Solution Folders (Virtual Folders): Hierarchical display of virtual solution folders with full nesting support.
- Multi-Solution Workspace Discovery: Automatically scans your workspace for all solutions, allowing one-click switching from the status bar or tree title menu.
- Standalone Projects: Works with standalone
.csproj, .fsproj, and .vbproj projects even when no .sln exists.
⚡ 2. Visual Studio-Grade Build, Run & Debug Actions
- Solution-Level Actions:
- 🔨 Build Solution (
dotnet build)
- 🔄 Rebuild Solution (
dotnet build --no-incremental)
- 🧹 Clean Solution (
dotnet clean)
- 📥 Restore Packages (
dotnet restore)
- 🧪 Run All Tests in Solution (
dotnet test)
- ➕ Add New Project (Web API, MVC, Minimal API, Class Library, Console, xUnit, Blazor, Worker, etc.)
- 📂 Add Existing Project
- Project-Level Actions:
- ▶️ Run Project (
dotnet run)
- 🐞 Debug Project (Native C# debugger launch)
- 🔨 Build / Rebuild / Clean / Test / Pack / Publish
- 🔗 Add Project Reference (Select from available projects in solution)
- 📝 Edit Project File (Quick-open
.csproj with one click)
📦 3. Dependencies Tree & Interactive NuGet Package Manager
- Visual Dependency Breakdown:
- Packages (NuGet): Displays all installed packages and versions.
- Projects (References): Lists inter-project references with one-click navigation to the target project.
- Frameworks: Shows target runtime frameworks (e.g.,
Microsoft.AspNetCore.App, Microsoft.NETCore.App).
- Interactive NuGet Search & Management:
- Search packages on NuGet.org directly within VS Code.
- Select package versions interactively with automatic
dotnet add package execution.
- Update installed packages to newer versions or remove packages with a single click.
- Open package details directly on NuGet.org.
📄 4. Visual Studio-Style "Add New Item" Engine
- Rich C# Templates:
Class (.cs)Interface (.cs)Enum (.cs)Record (.cs)Struct (.cs)API Controller (.cs)Razor Component (.razor)xUnit Test Class (.cs)JSON Configuration File (.json)Text File (.txt)
- Automatic Namespace Resolution: Dynamically calculates the correct C#
namespace based on folder hierarchy and the project's RootNamespace.
- Modern C# Support: Supports configurable file-scoped namespaces (
namespace MyCompany.Services;) and traditional block namespaces.
🪆 5. Visual Studio File Nesting
Replicates Visual Studio's file nesting behavior automatically:
appsettings.json ➔ appsettings.Development.json, appsettings.Production.jsonComponent.razor ➔ Component.razor.cs, Component.razor.cssForm1.cs ➔ Form1.Designer.cs, Form1.resxPage.cshtml ➔ Page.cshtml.cs
🎨 6. Minimalist & Theme-Aware Iconography
- Sleek Outline Icons: Monochromatic, modern outline icons matching VS Code's native design system.
- Dark & Light Mode Adaptation: Crisp platinum/silver (
#E2E8F0) borders in dark themes and elegant dark slate (#475569) in light themes.
- Smart Folder Recognition: Dedicated icons for common .NET folders (
Controllers, Models, Views, Services, Data, Properties, wwwroot, Tests).
📊 7. Real-Time Workspace Watcher & Status Bar
- Debounced Workspace Watcher: Automatically detects newly added, moved, or deleted files/projects and updates the tree view instantly.
- Status Bar Integration: Displays the active solution name, project count, and build configuration with quick-access switching.
⚙️ Extension Settings
Configure .NET Solution Explorer via VS Code Settings (Ctrl+, / Cmd+,):
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
netSolutionExplorer.autoReveal |
false |
Automatically reveals and selects the active editor file in Solution Explorer. |
netSolutionExplorer.fileScopedNamespaces |
true |
Uses modern C# file-scoped namespaces (namespace Foo;) when creating new C# items. |
netSolutionExplorer.fileNesting |
true |
Enables Visual Studio-style file nesting for components, appsettings, and designer files. |
netSolutionExplorer.defaultTerminalExecution |
false |
Runs dotnet CLI commands (build, test, etc.) in the Integrated Terminal instead of the Output channel. |
⌨️ Command Palette Reference
All commands are available through the VS Code Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):
.NET Solution Explorer: Refresh Solution.NET Solution Explorer: Switch Solution....NET Solution Explorer: Build Solution.NET Solution Explorer: Rebuild Solution.NET Solution Explorer: Clean Solution.NET Solution Explorer: Restore Packages for Solution.NET Solution Explorer: Run All Tests in Solution.NET Solution Explorer: Add New Project....NET Solution Explorer: Add Existing Project....NET Solution Explorer: Open Solution File.NET Solution Explorer: Open in Terminal.NET Solution Explorer: Run Project.NET Solution Explorer: Debug Project.NET Solution Explorer: Manage NuGet Packages....NET Solution Explorer: Add Project Reference....NET Solution Explorer: Add New Item....NET Solution Explorer: New Folder...
📋 Requirements
- .NET SDK (6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0 or later)
- Visual Studio Code
1.80.0 or higher
- C# Dev Kit or C# extension (recommended for code completion & debugging)
📄 License
This project is licensed under the MIT License.
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